Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake Recipe
This whipped cream cake is perfect for a summertime party, a birthday, or just as a way to use berries in their prime.
Game plan: Make sure the eggs are at room temperature before starting.
This recipe was featured as part of our Baked Sweets photo gallery.
For the berries:
- 2 pints strawberries, rinsed and hulled (about 4 cups)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1/2 medium lemon)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
For the cake:
- 2 cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon lightly packed finely grated lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 large eggs, separated
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
For the filling:
- 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
For the frosting:
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 cups heavy cream
- Combine all ingredients in a medium nonreactive mixing bowl and toss to thoroughly coat strawberries. Let macerate at room temperature at least 20 minutes before using.
- Strain macerated berries and reserve syrup separately.
For the cake:
- Heat oven to 350°F and arrange rack in upper third. Butter and flour two (8-inch) cake pans. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a mixing bowl; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, combine vegetable oil, water, lemon zest, vanilla extract, egg yolks, and 1 1/4 cups of the sugar. Whip on medium speed, until mixture is airy and light in color, about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl; add dry ingredients and whip until smooth, about 1 minute more.
- In a clean bowl, whip egg whites to medium peaks. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form, about 1 minute more. Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the cake batter until evenly incorporated; gently fold in remaining egg whites until just combined.
- Divide batter between prepared cake pans. Bake until surface of cakes springs back when pressed and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Remove cakes from the oven, and let cool 15 minutes. Run a knife around the perimeter of each, and turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely. Meanwhile, make the filling and the frosting.
For the filling:
- Combine mascarpone cheese and heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and whip until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
For the frosting:
- Place the cleaned bowl of the stand mixer and the whip attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes. Combine vanilla extract, sugar, and heavy cream in the chilled bowl and whip at medium speed until medium peaks form, about 2 minutes.
- Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least one hour. (The frosting can be prepared up to 12 hours ahead.)
To assemble:
- Using a long serrated knife, trim the tops of the cakes as necessary so they are level. Place cake rounds on a clean, dry surface and, using a pastry brush, brush 1/2 of the reserved strawberry syrup on the cut side of the first cake round; repeat on the cut side of the second cake round.
- Evenly spread 1/4 of the mascarpone filling over the cut side of the bottom cake layer. Arrange strawberries standing upright, stem end down, over the mascarpone layer and trim as necessary to create an even layer. Cover berries with the remaining filling, being sure to fill in any empty space.
- Place second cake layer over mascarpone and strawberries, cut side down, pressing gently to secure it. Using an offset spatula or a long, thin spatula, spread 3/4 cup of the frosting in a thin layer over the top and sides of the cake. Return remaining frosting and cake to the refrigerator until frosting on cake is set, about 15 minutes.
- Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides of the cake. Let sit in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes before serving.
I made this cake today. It was excellent. Beautiful as well. Because ricotta was on sale, I used ricotta cheese with a bit of sugar instead of the mascarpone. This worked well also.
I made this cake this weekend, based on everyone's comments. I am so disappointed! I followed the recipe to the letter...and the cake was tough! IT has to be the toughest, driest, cake I have ever made! The cake itself, was beautiful...but the taste? NO!
I made this cake this weekend for my mother's 82nd birthday. I made the cake on Saturday and the rest of the recipe on Sunday morning, a couple of hours before the party. It was magnificent! It was almost too tall to fit in the fridge. It was absolutely delicious and the real hit of the party. It was just so beautiful. I followed the instructions to the letter; the cake itself was perfect - light and flavorful with a nice height. It actually looked like the picture on this site. Thanks so much for the recipe. It's certainly a keeper.
YUMMY I'm a novice baker...can't wait to try it, I going to add kiwi as well!
can I use 9 inch cake pans instead?
I've made this cake twice already (and just got the recipe 2 weeks ago). I made the first one in 8 1/2 x 12 1/2 foil pans (increase the cake by 1/2) and doubled the filling and frosting. It was a huge hit at our church spaghetti dinner. I made a 9 inch round (no change in measurements) for Mother's day but used the suggestion of regular cream cheese. I liked them both. It's not too sweet and I didn't think it was all that difficult to make. Not as time consuming as some other recipes I've tried. Lovely presentation. Will probably do this again before the strawberry season ends in NC.
do you slice the strawberries, are just halve them?
I can't wait to try this it sounds AMAZING!!!! I wonder how this would do with fresh peaches??????
This cake is really great. It looks fantastic and is so light. Leftovers are non-existent but then I took it to work and it disappeared in lightning speed. Live in a warmer climate so yes, the whipping cream frosting did ooze a bit when it was out of the fridge for extended periods but nothing major. I think I just needed to whip the cream more thoroughly as I found the bottom of the bowl was a bit thinner than the top (used a hand mixer).
lalala - yes, cream cheese should work. Table salt is fine, but reduce the amount a bit (maybe 25%). when you say mix by hand, do you mean a hand mixer, or a whisk? Hand mixer should be fine. Whisk might make your arm drop off before you were finished. Can be done though. just pack the zest down a bit in your measuring spoon...don't let it be all fluffy or you won't have enough. Captainspirou - it's a chiffon-type cake, and that's how you make them. Also, oil wouldn't be fewer calories than butter anyway. Cake looks fabulous...would love to try it, but GOSH 3 1/2 cups of cream. I better have a crowd to feed it to!
adding a little bit of almond extract to the icing really takes it to another level! And having 3 thinner layers instead of 2 big ones, with berries in between gives an added boost of more fruit! I haven't made this cake myself, but it's our go to cake for birthdays & celebrations. Can't wait to make it myself! Mother's Day!
This is the birthday cake we had every year as kids. My mom bought it at a Phila. bakery and it was such a treat. I'm glad I finally saw this recipe and will give it a go. I think they used something other than marscapone - maybe just whipped cream?
Sorry, one more question (I'm a new baker :) what do you mean my lightly packed lemon zest? I know what lemon zest is but lightly packed?
Also, I do not have a stand mixer. Will the cake turn out okay if I just mix it by hand?
This cake looks wonderful! I was just wondering if I could use normal cream cheese instead of mascarpone cheese? And also, can I use regular table salt in place of kosher salt? If so, how much? Thank you!
Captainspirou, I chose to use the oil here instead of butter because of the texture and moisture it provides. Although I love the flavor of butter, it also contains water (that helps to leaven cakes through evaporation), but in this particular equation, oil was a better fit to keep the cake moist (with the baking powder and whipped whites I didn't need additional leaveners). Substituting the two will change the texture of the cake.
Why vegetable oil instead of butter? It's obviously not to cut calories since there's a lot of mascarpone and heavy cream in there already.
This sounds SOOO good.
Standard cream cheese was used in place of mascapone on ATK to keep the fillign study enough to slice
I had leftovers (not for long, though!) and the whipped cream frosting didn't separate or ooze at all. But the cake is definitely best when it's fresh.
I made this for a birthday celebration and everyone was thoroughly impressed. I did use a different frosting though (unless you use gelatin, I find that whipped cream frosting tends to get separated/runny and ooze into the cake after a day or so and I was expecting leftovers). I made this as is but used an italian meringue frosting instead. It's a great alternative to a standard chocolate or yellow birthday cake.
This cake has a lot of steps, but is actually quite easy! The cake part came out so fluffy and high. It looked impressive and tasted fresh and fruity. Took it to a party and all were overjoyed.
my mom said it look's so good to ^=^
it look's so sweet and good to ^=^
muriel: are you pushing the print button in the upper right corner?
Why can't I print this?????
My mom makes these with jam instead of fresh strawberries.